Burapha Nurse Outsmarts ‘Black Money’ Swindler

A 30-year-old nurse got duped by a man she met on Facebook. She sent him money he claimed was needed for chemicals to wash the dye from $3.5 million U.S. dollars, which was smuggled through Thai customs. She notified police, who later arrested a man with a safe of fake “black money.”

Making the report was the victim, Ms. Chalalai Boonman, age 30, a nurse form Burapha University hospital. She told police that she met a man through Facebook who claimed to be working for the Shell oil company in New York, U.S.A.

They kept corresponding and became very close. But the man lied to her and said he had “black money” in U.S. dollar banknotes that was kept in a safe in Thailand. There was about $3.5 million U.S. dollars, or the equivalent of 100 million Baht, he said.

But he told her the money had been dyed black in order to smuggle it through customs. So he asked Ms. Chalalai to help him buy a solution to wash the dye from the money, which would cost $150,000 U.S. dollars, or 4.5 million baht.

But he said once they got the money, they would live happily together in America. But first she had to send him 42,000 baht. He would then forward her payment to the person holding the safe in Thailand to “wash” the money. So she transferred money to his bank account. But later she felt he was a swindler, so she came to the police.

After hearing her report, the police set up an entrapment plan. They gave Ms. Chalalai 100,000 in photocopied THB banknotes. The police than had her inform the contact person inThailand that she had the rest of the money to pay for the solution to remove the dye.

Ms. Chalalai then made an appointment to meet the man who was holding the safe at a coffee chop in Lamtong department store, in front of Burapha University, Sansuk, Muang , Chonburi.

At the appointed time, a man later identified as Mr. Sanji, a Cameroonian, showed up with the safe. He took the money from her. Then the police revealed themselves and showed their identities. They detained the man and informed him of the allegation against him of deceiving people of their property.

However, Mr. Sanji claimed to police that he was just a courier hired to transport the property from New York. But the police did not believe him. The police had noticed that Mr. Sanji had arrived at the coffee shop by a sedan that had other men and women inside, who may have been part of the black money gang.

The sedan had dropped Mr. Sanji at the front of the department store and then drove away. But the police have surveillance photos of the other people talking to Mr. Sanji, and will catch the others later.

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The cops couldn't have simply followed the vehicle with the culprit's accomplishes ? ? ? Seems like the correct & obvious thing to do. They wouldn't have traveled very far, since they were obviously there to pick-up the fraudster after a successful 'operation' . . . . .Maybe the Thai Police need some basic lessons in covert Pursuit & Arrest ?